Abortion rights amendment on track for 1.4 million signatures by New Year’s

The political committee behind a proposed abortion rights amendment said it will have submitted 1.4 million petition signatures by the end of the year.

“Floridians have shown that they want to see this initiative on the ballot,” Floridians Protecting Freedom Campaign Director Lauren Brenzel said in a news release.

“We’re doing a final push and asking everyone who has not yet signed and submitted their petition to get them into the campaign by December 22nd. The state has until February 1st, 2024, to validate petitions and we’re confident we’re going to submit enough petitions to get on the ballot.”

In a separate statement, Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book said “it’s clear our campaign to give power to the people is on track to win back our rights.”

She added, “The momentum of grassroots organizing efforts across the state — which have earned signatures from Republicans, Democrats, and Independents alike — shows that despite out-of-touch abortion bans ushered forth by extremist politicians, women’s rights to privacy, health care, and reproductive freedom are something voters everywhere can and will unite behind.”

The abortion rights referendum, if it makes the ballot and earns at least 60% support in the November 2024 election, would prohibit any law limiting the ability to obtain an abortion before fetal viability — generally between 20 and 25 weeks into a term — or if an abortion is “necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s health care provider.”

Florida currently has a 15-week abortion ban. The ban could tighten to six weeks if the state Supreme Court rejects a legal challenge arguing that the 15-week ban violates the state constitution’s right to privacy clause.

To make the ballot, proposed constitutional amendments must gather 892,523 verified petition signatures — a number tied to 8% of voter turnout in the most recent Presidential Election. Amendments must also hit the 8% threshold in a majority of Florida’s 28 congressional districts.

Floridians Protecting Freedom has 753,762 verified petition signatures and has crossed the threshold in eight congressional districts according to the most recent data from the state Division of Elections, which is updated weekly.

The campaign had raised more than $8.9 million through the end of the third quarter and has poured most of the money into signature-gathering efforts. It started October with about $118,000 in the bank.

Floridians Protecting Freedom said voters who want to submit a petition signature can mail them in to Post Office Box 4068, Sarasota, Fla. 34230. The petition form is available on the committee’s website.